VICTORIA - The government’s “ludicrous” proposals for labour peace in B.C. schools could derail a far more important plan for significant bargaining reform that was quietly drafted late last year by the B.C. Teachers’ Federation and public-school employers, union president Susan Lambert said Thursday.

That tentative deal, while not as sweeping as the plan advanced Thursday by Premier Christy Clark, was described by Lambert as historic given that it was reached by two longtime adversaries and had sparked hope that a new bargaining framework might help the parties reach a new collective agreement before the current one expires June 30.

The latest developments come after a decade of turmoil in the school system, culminating in a 2011-12 school year plagued by labour woes. That year, teachers refused to write report cards, supervise students or take part in extracurricular activities.

The tentative teachers-employers deal has not been ratified, but the BCTF executive is recommending acceptance by union members at a meeting this weekend.

The B.C. Public School Employers’ Association is expected to vote Saturday. Chief executive officer Hugh Finlayson said school trustees, who are represented by BCPSEA in labour matters, were generally favourable.

“It’s a good agreement,” Lambert told a news conference, adding that Clark’s decision to release different proposals on the eve of ratification was bizarre and suspect.

“I hope that (Clark’s) announcement does nothing to scuttle that agreement. I hope that BCPSEA, in turn, ratifies that agreement. It will be a positive step.”

The BCTF-BCPSEA plan anticipates a start to bargaining Feb. 4 and an exchange of proposals no later than March 1. A database of information about working conditions, the cost of proposals and relevant labour market issues would be developed to discourage squabbling over facts and a facilitator would be selected to help with negotiations from the beginning until June 30, with the possibility of an extension.

Clark’s more complicated plan is intended to deliver a 10-year contract that would give parents assurances that labour feuds would not affect their children’s education for a decade.

“No matter where I travel in the province I hear from parents who want an education system that puts students first — one where classroom learning isn’t put on hold because (of) the animosity and the acrimony that sometimes spills over from the bargaining table into classrooms,” she told a news conference in Surrey, where she announced an initiative called A Framework for Long-Term Stability in Education.

“The question is can we, working alongside teachers, come up with an agreement that will ensure that students who are in Grade 2 today can have an entire school career that is free of labour disruptions?”

Although there will be naysayers, Clark said she believes a 10-year deal is possible — as long as the BCTF agrees to have teacher compensation linked to agreements in other major public-sector unions and have some controversial issues, such as class size and composition, reviewed by a new education policy council consisting of representatives from the union, school boards and government.

That body would give teachers a formal role in policy decisions and a voice in determining how money is spent, the government’s document states. As well, in the third year of a new contract, the government is promising a $100-million investment fund to help make improvements.

The plan also includes a new bargaining framework — similar to that negotiated by the BCTF and BCPSEA — to ensure contract talks progress in an orderly fashion. And teachers would once again have the full right to strike, a decade after the Liberals enacted legislation making education an essential service and restricting, but not halting, teacher job action.

The government now admits that law, which topped the Liberals’ agenda when they were elected in 2001, did not work as intended.

The head of the province’s largest parent group welcomed Clark’s proposals as an honest attempt to address a difficult problem. “I’m not saying this answers all the questions but we really do consider it a good starting point,” Terry Berting, president of the B.C. Confederation of Parent Advisory Councils, said in an interview.

Parents have been frustrated for a long time with labour conflict in education, he said. “This may not be the perfect answer, but I think it’s a step in the right direction.”

Colin Redfern, chair of Vancouver’s District Parent Advisory Council and the father of two elementary school children, said the premier’s plan is a “step in the right direction,” although he can’t say he supports it wholeheartedly because he doesn’t yet know all the details.

“It’s accomplishing some of the goals set forth by the parents, which was we wanted a longer settlement term for continuity. We felt the process was political and the kids were cannon fodder.”

Redfern said he likes the idea of a 10-year deal, with wages tied to other public sector workers. “That’s fair.”

He also likes the idea of class size and composition reviewed by a new education policy council consisting of representatives from the union, school boards and government.

“That needs to be done.”

Redfern dismissed the BCTF’s concerns about Clark’s plan. “(They) pooh-poohed it because it’s not their idea.”

In an attempt to sell the deal directly to teachers, Education Minister Don McRae sent an email to all BCTF members Thursday with a copy of Clark’s proposals attached.

“The framework offers a fresh start and an opportunity to work together to build a stronger, more effective relationship between government and teachers,” wrote McRae, a former teacher. “Despite repeated labour disputes, our education system is one of the best in the world. I can only imagine what we are capable of achieving together if we worked from a position of long term labour peace.”

But Lambert insisted Clark’s plan won’t fly because it robs teachers of their constitutional right to bargain working conditions and compensation. She said it would require teachers to surrender their right to bargain class size and composition (which refers to the number of special-needs students in a class), an issue that has been at the heart of a 10-year feud between union and government.

The BCTF lost that right in 2002, when the Liberals enacted laws to give schools more flexibility in organizing classes. A lengthy court battle ensued and the government was eventually found to have violated teachers’ constitutional rights. In March, it passed Bill 22, returning class size and composition to the bargaining table this spring.

Lambert said there is no way her members will surrender that now and suggested Clark’s proposals were almost designed to fail. McRae later issued a brief statement insisting that the BCTF would still have a right to negotiate class size and composition under Clark’s plan.

NDP education critic Robin Austin said the premier’s proposal includes some good elements but the government mishandled the process by failing to properly consult teachers.

Austin also questioned why Clark was involving herself in the process when the BCTF and the employer are working to negotiate a new framework themselves.

He suggested the timing was suspect since there are only 16 weeks before the May provincial election.

Michael McEvoy, president of the B.C. School Trustees’ Association, said he had early concerns about the promise of a $100-million investment fund in the third year of a 10-year deal and whether it would be new money or simply re-allocated dollars.

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